Raq'De YaegerHis hand quickly wraps about her arm, his grip is warrior strong though he supports her as if she were made of glass, eyes glitter intensely in the dim light of the tavern as rough fingers trace the stone protrusions fingers gliding across where flesh turned to stone he says softly "is there any pain in it?" he examined her arm as if it were a flawless precious gem, for there was one thing he craved and chased more then anything, Knowledge.

Raq's grip took both Rahm and Anya by surprise, but she kept her composure, holding herself still as she was stroked and prodded. The look in Raq's eyes was almost hungry. No one had ever looked at Anya like that before, like she was actually worth looking at. "There's no pain," Anya said, cutting her own thoughts short, "even when the stone is chipped. Only the soft flesh feels pain. It's like claws or hair."

Raq'De Yaeger*he rumbled happily as he finished examining her "thank you so much for that Anya...I've been curious this whole time You're truly an amazing creature" he gives her a playful wink before saying "so Rahm was it?...a forest spirit huh?...how'd you end up tied to Amber eyes here?" He said amber eyes like a compliment as he watches her absorbing her movements and reactions like a cross between a tactician and an opera counessouir.

Anya was growing uncomfortable under Raq's gaze. It was one thing when he was flirting with her on that rooftop, they had been equals then. But here in the soft light of the tavern, surrounded by the heady, intoxicating smells of ale and meat, something was different.

Rahm noticed Anya's unease and tried to be soothing. "Just because he's a messenger of Syn does not make him a God in his own right," he whispered to her alone, "he's charming, yes, but watch your footing and you'll be fine." Rahm spoke up, including Raq in the conversation. "Anya was there for me in my time of need. We were both too young to understand the consequences, and she ended up not just sharing her sympathy, but her body as well."

Anya nodded. "It's not as bad or weird as you'd think. Rahm's like my brother. His consciousness feels everything my body feels, but he can withdraw into himself when each of us needs to be alone. Most folks here in the city think I'm insane. It helps to keep the lesser thugs from messing with me. I've never met anyone besides Rahm's father, a great Forest Spirit, who could hear him speak. That's why you shocked me so much." Anya dug her index claw into the table, prying up a sizable sliver of wood. "I would call it a solitary existence, but when you've got two minds in one body, well, I don't think they've coined a term for that yet." Anya flicked the sliver out of her palm, and watched it land squarely in the low burning candle, where it burned to ash.

Raq'De Yaeger*he grunts and nods softly as he listens to her explaination of her situation he rubs his chin lightly before playfully looking to her "so...that...has to make masterbation interesting" he snickers a little trying to keep her light hearted, not one for drama he stretches playfully in his booth across from her "so...I am aware that a trait of most spirits is shifting...anything like that?"

Anya laughed so hard she sputtered, clapping a hand over her mouth to keep from drawing too much attention to the corner booth. Rahm was too shocked to say anything. Trying to recover, she took a deep swig of ale. "Yes," she chuckled, "very interesting indeed." Rahm gave a sort of indignant snort. "Shifting," she continued, still grinning widely, "happens onlt rarely. Rahm's body is much more...intimidating than mine, and we prefer to keep a low profile. The most important thing is that when Rahm's form is being used, he is in control, and I am the voice in his head. It's quite a switch, I can tell you that." Anya leaned back in the booth, arms crossed, suddenly much more at ease with this strange messenger. He swung wildly between mysterious and downright foolish. Anya felt a kind of kinship in that.

Raq'De YaegerHe gives a deep chuckle as he smiles, enjoying the smile on her face he snickers a little "you know you should smile more...it looks good on you" he grins and waves a lady over saying playfully "Garçon" she comes over anyways and says quietly "Garçon means boy" he shakes his head lightly and chuckles "I'd like your special pleased" he places his hand over hers and a few clinks are heard as coins drop there glittering a strange black metal, Stygian Irons a few would buy you a nice night in a hotel.

Anya's eyesbrows shot up as high as the waitress's, even Rahm gave a little impressed murmur.

"I guess being a messenger of the Gods has it's perks." Anya said as the waitress left with her spoils. "What's the dental plan like?" She sat back in the booth, once again eying Raq. It seemed that every time she looked at him he had some new facet to study.

Raq'de Yaeger*he laughs softly and grins "It definitely pays well and as for the dental" he flashes her a glimpse at his pearly whites he snickers a little and shakes his head "the only problem is it seems to attract alot of danger" he shifts his hand into a lion paw as he starts lightly clawing at the wooden table.

"Ahem." Rahm interjected. "If I may ask, Raq, just what do we do now? We can't open the message, but obviously we can't just sit here in this city knowing Syn himself is watching. Just what are we supposed to do?" Anya snorted at Rahm for interrupting. Raq was the most interesting conversational partner she'd had since, well Rahm. Nonetheless...

"He has a point," Anya conceded, leaning forward once more on her elbows, sliding her empty mug towards the center of the table. Her clawed hand joined Raq's paw in further vandalizing the furniture.

*he grins softly and nods "well...you could join me...I've got some fun journeys ahead of me...you see...I am trying to fix something for the big guy...Guarenteed to be danger...lots of running...stealing things like that" he winks "and well... lets not forget" he smacks his hand down playfully as he pulls up stacks of Teals "all the money" he snickers and snaps his fingers as it all disappears with a poof.

What followed next was what seemed, to random passerby, to be a heated debate between Anya and a nail in the wall.

After several long minutes of hushed, yet violent, discussion, Anya turned back to Raq, the topaz eye in her forehead glinting lightly in the candlelight. "We'll go with you," She said bluntly. Her mouthed widened into a disarming smile as she added, "on two conditions."

"One," Rahm spoke up, "There will be no secrets. I have no doubt in my mind that that scroll really is from Syn. As to why it won't open, there are many theories and possibilities. But anything you hear regarding us comes straight to us. If we get even one tiny hint that you're hiding something, we're out. You invited us, which means that we probably serve some purpose to you. All we ask is that we be kept informed."

Anya spoke up immediately after. "Two: I'll need three days to settle my debts and finish my business in this city. If you need a place to stay, we can help you." Anya finished speaking just as a sizable chip of wood splintered from the table under her claw. She raised it to her lips, poked the sharp tip between two formidable teeth and grinned. "What do you say?"

Raq'De Yaeger*he grunts softly and leans back rubbing his chin "you two drive a hard bargain" he gives a playful wink "but I accept the terms...dont worry i'am not one for secrets anyways as for the three days, allrighty, you can reach me with this" he reaches down to his belt suddenly and pulls out what seems to be a large one handed hammer but all of the edges were jagged as if it were broken off of something, overwhelming power could be felt on a spiritual and physical level from this hammer, he reaches into one of the multitude of pouches lining his belt and retrieves a glittering ruby, it wasn't cut or refined yet but he grinned and layed it on the table, with a grunt he swings the hammer down at the table it hits the gem with a "PINK!" a bright flash of orange light and sitting where the gem once was in a little scorch mark was now a silver and ruby ring "wear it on a chain or your finger, long as it touches your flesh i can hear you if you think about me" he smiles softly "so...just think about me and i'll come runnin!" he chuckles and slips the hammer into its holster before standing up, his clothes shifting as he flexes and stretches, fixing the mask over his face "remember three days!" he says with a wink and a chuckle as he turns and darts out of the inn, dropping 3 teals in a bucket on his way out...a pleasant tip for the waitress

Anya left the tavern not long after Raq, wishing to remain unnoticed. She scooped up the scroll and put it in the pouch at her waist, but keeping the ring in the palm of her hand. As soon as she was in the street she stopped, smelled and listened for any trace of the messenger, but he had vanished, seemingly into thin air.

"I know it's a little late for this, but are you sure we made the right decision?" Rahm asked, unease suddenly replacing his resolve.

"You wanted to go with him even more that I did." Anya laughed, turning the ring over and over in her padded hands. It filled her with a kind of hope and strength. For years she had felt as if she was living in stasis. She knew this city inside and out, every dark corner and twisted gable was her domain. There was little adventure left in stealing. Her reputation was firmly grounded. She just felt that she had done all she could there. But this was something new, something bigger than the capital or her wretched tribe or even the whole of the Birthsands.

Rahm was contemplative. "Yes, I know. I'm just worried about our feelings, mine as well as yours, once we begin this journey. One of us may change their minds." For Rahm, this journey was about more than a mysterious message and the allure of a stranger. This was Syn himself calling. As a Spirit, Rahm was not plagued by the Agnosticism Anya suffered. He felt Syn's power as surely as sunlight on skin. He felt drawn to this adventure in ways he had never felt before. But at the same time, he cared for Anya, and her hopes, and her burdens.

"Listen here," Anya said loudly, stopping in the middle of the street, causing a mother to shield her child and rush past her. "I don't know why a God would choose me. Would choose us. You know how I feel. I'm just an insignificant creature, crawling across the face of this planet. What makes me worth noticing? The fact that we share a body? I can't even pretend to guess at His reasons. But I believe in this power that's calling us forward. I believe that there's something we're not doing, and that we need to get moving and get it done. This is the future, Rahm, love it or hate it, it's ours." Anya turned toward the sun setting over the city with a satisfied snort. "We've got a lot of shit to take care of in the next few days. Let's get moving."

Syntarin*in the heart of his forge realm, he stood in his true form, massive beyond comprehension his being made of golden light, pupil-less eyes burn the color of a forge, massive wings raise from his back, one made of fire(top left),one intricate metals(top right), one light(bottom right), one dark(bottom left), as he paces around a massive Iron age Crucible the vision it produced was everything and anything all at once the vision would make no sense to any mortal, he zeros in on a particular happening, chuckling as a young woman yells up at him her own message he gives a happy little sigh "such fire in this bunch...they really are so different" he softly runs his hands around the edge of the crucible all about him molten metals flow like rivers into forges, being scooped out by strange hunched creatures in bright red robes, bright red eyes would be all that was visible as they handled molten metal with their bare hands, Syntarins robes were tied down around his waist as usual as he sighs flexing his hand "sulfras...soon..." he shames his head as a creature runs up to him offering up a large metallic scythe he takes it, testing it, spinning it flawlessly before grunting "its nice steve...but...i dont think it'll work" he chuckles as the little thing pulls its hood back revealing the big round red eyes set into a soft chibi face of his mortal form, it sighs sadly "try harder!" before leaping up and nabing the scythe before running off.

It was amazing how three days seemed to fly by when you were packing up your entire life. Anya and Rahm had spent their time collecting all they were owed and paying anything they owed themselves. Anya may have been a thief at times, but she was still an honest thief. The hardest bit had been gathering supplies for their journey, somethings were just too difficult to steal, like a sword. Anya had had to pay for that out of pocket. It was a good, stout weapon. Sharp and perfect for close combat. She had gathered various dried meats, herbs and spices, some stolen, some paid for. Rope, a cloak, a whetstone and a waterskin were also attained. On the fourth morning, Anya rose from her sleep, mentally poking at Rahm until he was awake as well. She fastened her sword to her belt, as well as the pouch that held her money, the scroll and the ring. She donned her pack and cloak and set towards a fountain in the center of the city, which would be easy to reach no matter where Raq was coming from.

She sat down at the edge of the sparkling water, the square hushed and vacant as all the nocturnal creatures left to sleep, while the diurnal ones were just rousing themselves from their dreams.

"We're really doing this." She said with a grin.

Rahm chuckled. "I'm ready when you are."

Anya pulled the ring out of her pouch, turning it in her hand and watching it glint in the dawn light. She thought of the first terrifying moment she had met Raq.

Distantly he could feel the explosion. So this was how it was to end? In the dark, freezing and burning as the planet tore itself apart. He was protected, He would survive until something happened that was to strong for his armor to deflect. The realities that pulsed along his chest and arms warring with flames and death but holding together as they should. Within his helmet he would take a slow breath. Would the others be so lucky, he had trusted his battle brother, Syntarin would save them from harm. Faintly he would recall his love. Her smell on his skin like a loving caress, a ghost. And then he heard it. Crack *crack* *crack* his armor began to chip as the force of chaos rang in his ears. Like a plane depressurizing the roar of darkness was deafening as the folded realities began to fail.

I'm going to die...was all he had time to think before the force of a million supernova's exploded across his body. A million suns upon a million other stars dieing as they collapsed and erupted within the jem like plates in his armor. It would take all he had to resist the explosions outside of him. He would put the core reality in far more danger if he let the black hole inside his armor unleash.

“Syn....I'm sorry”

he would close his blue eyes as he thought of the others. Each face passing through his memory. Each moment he spent with them fading like so much static. And then the voice, dripping with poison and lust it seeped into his mind ravishing his memories. “I~can save you Skyheart....just give in...let the darkness swallow you and I can give you everything...even the power to overcome this” the intense pain within his body made him cry out in agony already his flesh was rotting away “No Ragnarok....I will not be a vessel for you to control! I'd rather die than let you....fight my Brother!” internally the two waged war for dominance. Two thousand years of chaos and pain.

And then Nothing....

when ark awoke once more he was within the mighty forge of Syntarin sitting up on the great anvil clothed in white robes. Ethereal both alive and dead. He knew what had happened. Without explanation the two looked to each other in understanding. Ark had been rescued from what had happened in the worlds reforging and only now had Syn been capable of returning Ark's soul to one piece. The event that shattered the hammer of a god had to have been the same power that had separated Ark from his body. Eternity...was going to be a long time to wait for his mortal form to return to him....but he was with his one true friend, what was a ten thousand years between comrades

10,000 years later

Ark stood near the fridge looking down on a small animal with big defenseless yellow eyes and forest green skin. It looked up at him its brown robes hanging loose on its form. A bright shinning knife in one hand. Syn had erected these little monstrosities to plague ark at every turn. Snacking was a regulated affair since they seemed to like the kitchen. “Syn...the tomberrie won't let me at the mountain dew!”

Syntarin*he looks back away from the Crucible and laughs "go on try to get it! they're slow!...think zombies from the old world but slower...and way more deadly!" with that he turns back and snaps his fingers, tossing a slinky back and forth between his hands.Raq'De Yaeger*a deep rumbling growl is heard as he slowly walks around the corner, muscles tight against his snow white fur, he stood tall in his anthro form, long mane tossed regally in the light breeze as he slowly strides up to her and rumbles in a deep rich voice "well then..finally ready?" ((think aslan for his voice!))

Raq'De Yaeger*he chuckles as they walk to the edge of the cliff, the two shaman there greet them warmly before ripping open a portal through the wilds, a single step and they are 100's of feet back down on the desert floor instead of atop the massive mesa city, he gives a happy sigh and says "so!...how fast can you move...and for how long?" he begins rolling his shoulders, muscles stretch and flex imposingly*

Anya shifted her pack thoughtfully for a moment before answering. "Well, in this form, I can go at a horse's gallop for an hour or so before any major rest is needed. Rahm's form, on the other hand, is an amazing distance runner. If you don't mind, I think we'd be better off traveling with him dominant for now."

Anya began making the necessary adjustments to the straps of her pack, and gathering everything to the pack itself. She was just tucking her cloak away as she looked up at Raq playfully. "Are you ready to meet Rahm face-to-face?"

Raq'De Yaeger*he shudders heavily as he falls forward, muscles and ligaments shift and flex as he ripples into all fours, all of his possessions seem gone save the tube strapped to his back, the same voice as his anthro form rumbles out in their head now "ready as always" he softly pads around them watching curiously with Silver eyes

Instantly Anya's form began to change. The crack of bone breaking and growing was the first thing to be noticed, then the tinnier crumble of stone as her flesh began to morph. Her padded fingers shortened to toes of paws and the moss color hair of her scalp spread like plantlife. Her body grew and changed like wildfire, doubling in size in the blink of an eye. As quickly as it had begun, the transformation ended, and there stood Rahm. He stood as tall as a horse on lean legs, his lithe body seeming almost malnourished. The intricate stone patterns covered his skin as well, forming a hard contrast to the soft fur around them. He had scars on his knees, arms and face in the same places as Anya, a testament to their shared existence. He bowed his head to Raq and spoke, his lips moving around a mouthful of dangerous teeth. "It's nice to finally talk to you in person, Raq. Or should I say, in beast." He smiled, the corners of his mouth making his facial scar bend.

There was A battle being fought on the bridge city by the one called the Monkey King. The monkey king fought the Adora'lunan advance with his staff at blistering speed. His little ninja monkey army helping to drive off the invaders. It was an interesting and entertaining battle to watch, but Something would Happen that Adora'luna did not account for...

In the City of Macabri, on the outer edge of the Adora'luna landscape where there 'northern' neighbor was the dark black void of space, it was peaceful. the market was as busy as usual, but the city felt empty as its soldiers had been called to the front lines in the Birth-sands. Pylons hummed and the vapor mines continued to collect Ipthine gas which was used to fuel the machines of war.

Thousands of commands were being issued at the speed of light, the plan was unraveled for the drone army, and prepared in less than a second.

Explosion; the first of nine Ipthine mines near the town went up in a mass of green flame, small dots could be seen in the distance and passed over-head of the people of the city in less than a second.

Three explosions in quick succession. Three more mines destroyed, the drones had set them ablaze with their arc projectors, people began to flee from the city having no chance to Drive so many sudden invaders.

Fifth explosion, following an plasmatic chargeup that could be heard from anywhere in town. A pale-white humanoid walked through the green flame, his one arm malformed into a power-weapon of some kind.

Sixth Explosion, two large bipedal war-mechs moved toward the humanoid droid. as drones unleash destruction upon the city itself, the humes not wielding weapons were left to flee, though the few soldiers who remained were fried by arc-projectors.

Last three Explosions, the ruins of the city with illuminated by bright green flames. Civilians fleeing in terror heading to the more central cities. The drones did not follow.

City destruction completed in 7439 Milli-seconds. an command sent to the leader from one of the alpha drones to the humanoid droid leader.

"very good" Xaiver said to himself, reveling his Existence after so long...

Brander Thall*As the last explosion goes off an invisible shield Fizzles revealing the base to be okay, the inhabitants run screaming, the several droids that had been sent to attack it suddenly seize up and crackle with energy, hitting the floor theres a sound of loud banging and growling,

~weenk weenk weenk weenk THUNK~ is the sounds of a massive locked hatch being opened the "pylon" that was on it winked out prooving it was false, 6 bright green lights wink on as obviously computer augmented voice growls out sounding like a beast from the abyss "FOOLS! who dares attack my mine!" when no reply comes and he hears no sound a fiery messy mane of hair pops up out of the hatch, on a 9 year olds pale face a little red light on a band around his neck winks out and his voice is now high pitched "what the hell is that?" he leaps out suddenly, running quickly to the ruins of a shorted out probe, he crouches down over it, pushing his goggles up "oooooo" his hands run along their surface as he digs into a pouch on his chest pouch pulling out a cylindrical silver device with a single slide and a projection mirror on one side he grumbles and flips the switch, a bright blue light issues out with a low hum, the screws and slips would release from the little probe as it is pulled apart under the sonic influences of the cylindrical device, after pulling it apart and examining its guts, fiddling with it for a bit and figuring out how it works before suddenly he begins reassembling it after a few minutes he would lean up with the probe now on his head as a helmet, the components he didn't need were now useless on the floor as he strides forward, a little HUD drops in front of his eyes as it shows him where the homing signal was coming from as he sees the humanoid shape he gives a little growl "trying to blow up my resources stupid thing" since his goggles were not down he would not be able so see that this "man" was truly a machine instead he dumps the left over power in the probe into a high powered arc blast and fires it from the focusing lens of the probe over his forehead.